How To Remove Copper From DT

[Elgringodiablo]

Update
after several more polypads, carbon, gfo, water changes, cuprisorb. it still would not go below 0.2.
it always stays around 0.2.

so what i did was take a new batch of newly mixed saltwater. tested it on the hanna and sure enough it was 0.23.

what im thinking is that its the reagent that is making the water cloudy so the hanna gives a 0.2 reading.
i shake the cuvette for 45 seconds each time. and make sure there are no micro bubbles inside. its as consistent as possible.
maybe i have a bad reagent or it has been exposed to heat or whatever(which i highly doubt because i store it in a drawer).
but yeah. i think its good to share this discovery.

And also i did an icp test 1month ago. and the result was 0.02. which is really far from 0.2 that hanna is showing.

Basically exact same thing happening to me. Past 2-3 weeks I’m seeing 0.1-0.2 regardless of media spent, water changes, etc. Tested my RODI water and it read 0.04. I think it may detect false positives at low levels.

I’ll ICP test soon, but my inverts and SPS tester frags seem totally fine.

 

[Elgringodiablo]

I’ve added about a dozen sps frags and my mertensii anemone back to that system, despite the 100-200ppb Cu readings I am getting on the Hanna checker. Everything looks fine. I’ll submit a Triton ICP test at the end of the week. I expect copper to be present but under 100ppb.

 

[JMM744]

If I might ask a question, my qt tank shows .11 on the Hanna Checker. This tank has had multiple 50% water changes and several bags of cuprisorb and charcoal used up. It’s been at least two weeks since I stopped copper. After looking through this thread I am thinking my tank is pretty much rid of copper and safe to use prime in it etc? My display tank had a 100% water change and a vinegar bath and rinse. I have yet to check the levels in it as it’s still filling with ro water and no salt added yet.
Jim

 

[Elgringodiablo]

I would assume the copper is out, but not a big fan of Prime, is it can interact badly with medications and might not be worth the risk.

I use old water from my water changes, seeded media (rubble, siporax, sponges), low bioload and pretty frequent water changes to manage ammonia.

 

[JMM744]

Prime was just what came to mind as I know it’s fatal to fish if copper is present. Thanks for your thoughts. It’s appreciated. It’s been a real treat to use the Hanna but I don’t think enough has been documented about low levels and how it reads them.

 

[kevsqn]

Update.
ive put several frags of sps,zoas, blasto and an anemone
all are doing fantastic. zoas are opened fully. sps polyp are out.
ive also turned back on the UV. and nothing seems to be happening. Cross fingers.
im doing icp test again next month.

 

[Hot2na]

I just skipped to the last page of this -so if it's already been stated so be it....By polfiber pads if you mean the polyfilter by poly bio marine that is a good choice. keep in mind that the polyfilter is calibrated to a synthetic sea salt level of copper...so it won't bring copper levels to ZERO ...more like NSW levels... if you want zero copper -you'll have to enlist the aid of some other products mentioned on the first page.

 

[Elgringodiablo]

Update.
ive put several frags of sps,zoas, blasto and an anemone
all are doing fantastic. zoas are opened fully. sps polyp are out.
ive also turned back on the UV. and nothing seems to be happening. Cross fingers.
im doing icp test again next month.

Yeah, mine looks fine too and I didn’t even remove my rock. Going to submit an ICP test this week. But I feel like the old wives tale about copper ruining your tank for good is pretty well disproven. At least my mertensii carpet anemone seems to agree.

 

[4FordFamily]

Added “2018 Edit: If you’re bent on using copper in your DT, buy a Hanna copper checker to accurately measure copper so that your efforts need not be repeated many times due to copper swings” to the first page

 

[Elgringodiablo]

So, I got my Triton ICP test back. They see 15ppb Cu in my water. And that is after treating my display with rock to 1.75ppm for 30 days.
Copper is barely into the yellow in their range. Obviously I'd like it to be lower, but not losing any sleep over 15ppb. My Tin, Zinc and Chromium are all in the red though, so need to figure out what's caused those and how to bring them down to safe levels.

 

[Luis Bueiz]

I had a brass/copper pipe on my return pump. I have been battling trying to remove the contamination from my aquarium. I have used carbon reactor for more than a month now and for the last two weeks I have been running on top of the socks poly filter pads and they are turning aqua/blue color, I haven't replaced my sand or my rocks since I love my rock work. I have a 90 gallon tank and last week I change 35 gallon of water change. What else should I do to get rid of this contamination sooner?

Please any help will be appreciated.

 

[Elgringodiablo]

I had a brass/copper pipe on my return pump. I have been battling trying to remove the contamination from my aquarium. I have used carbon reactor for more than a month now and for the last two weeks I have been running on top of the socks poly filter pads and they are turning aqua/blue color, I haven't replaced my sand or my rocks since I love my rock work. I have a 90 gallon tank and last week I change 35 gallon of water change. What else should I do to get rid of this contamination sooner?

Please any help will be appreciated.

Do you have the Hanna Digital Copper Tester? If not you should buy one and see what your copper levels are at. Polyfilters work well, but you need to replace once they turn blue. Water changes should get most of it. You can also try Seachem Cupisorb and Triton Detox.

 

[Luis Bueiz]

I don’t have a Hanna digital copper tester, I have already replaced two pads of poly filter. Also I run a activated carbon reactor and change the carbon every 7 days. Question do you think the rock will work once copper is completely out of my system?
I changed 35 gallons of water today, I also empty completely the sump and spray clean skimmer, return pump and filter socks with clear water and put it back together.
First picture how my tanks was a year ago and second how is currently.

 

[Luis Bueiz]

Do you recommend replacing the sand?

 

[Elgringodiablo]

You don't have to toss the rock and sand... IF you can get the copper levels down to barely detectible. If you don't buy the tester, then you won't know, so you should buy the tester.

 

[Luis Bueiz]

I will check into it. I found it for $42.99 the tester.

 

[Elgringodiablo]

Do you recommend replacing the sand?

If you are restarting and the tank is dry, you may as well toss the sand and replace it with new. Generally a good idea to toss your sand after draining your tank and letting it sit dry for a while. Sand is cheap and new live sand is probably less likely to be contaminated than your old sand.

 

[kevsqn]

Update. icp test came back and it is 0.000.

 

[Luis Bueiz]

If you are restarting and the tank is dry, you may as well toss the sand and replace it with new. Generally a good idea to toss your sand after draining your tank and letting it sit dry for a while. Sand is cheap and new live sand is probably less likely to be contaminated than your old sand.

I am not restarting. I am trying to get rid of the copper by running activated carbon thru a reactor plus adding Poly filter in my sump filter sock.

 

[Luis Bueiz]

Well guys I decided to restart over so I added new sand, rocks and water and we are happy reefing again. Thank you all for the comments and help. Polyfilter was removing it but I think it was not going to be cost effective so I restart over.